Bravo to Kathy Hester for her delightful new Cookbook OATrageous Oatmeals.

Oats are one of my favorite foods. The title alone is a great promise, a promise Kathy Hester keeps throughout the book. Beside the obvious OATrageous pun, I do love the tweaking of oatmeal, that little “s” at the end propels oatmeal from a humble generic cereal staple to the wonder grain it really is, a grain that is all personality and all flavor, and is equally at home in smoothies, soups, stews, cookies, cakes, confections, even drinks! Oh wait: Even bath soaks and mudpacks! Not a single groat will go to waste.

It doesn’t hurt that the recipes are all vegan, and all gluten-free, and all natural, welcoming the whole spectrum of diners. And it gives a badly needed break to meat eaters who just need to reduce their meat intake even while enjoying full-bodied flavors. You can have your pepperoni crumble and eat it too. Or your cream cheese, and many hearty soups and stews, all vegan.

In many of her recipes, Kathy Hester soaks her oats overnight.

Then in the morning, she takes them places. Amazing places! Soaking is in quite a few of her recipes the operative word, and what allows you to use it raw, no cooking: Oat pudding, oat cream, a slew of smoothies.

Kathy Hester’s pictures are luscious.

I love the one that shows just a petite midriff and a petite glass bowl, invitingly titled “Protein packed Peanut Butter Cut Overnight Oats Petite Portion”.

I love that Kathy Hester made an entire book based on something that grows like crazy and costs pennies: Real hip treats, perfectly delicious and nutritious, with none of those tiresome highfalutin expensive groupie foods which seem custom-made for a rarefied diners’ community at an absurd price. So, don’t go there, go OATmeals!

I have only one “but” about Kathy Hester’s Book:

One oversight worth mentioning: Just one thing is sadly missing: Oat flour being one of the greatest-tasting gluten-free flours (the greatest, in this cook’s opinion), and lending itself beautifully to so many bread preparations, I deplore the fact that Kathy Hester has not once thought of tinkering with Gluten-Free breads and muffins in her gorgeous book. In an age when such a large part of the public needs guidance with good quality gluten-free breads, that would have been received with delirious enthusiasm. Especially since the whole book is gluten-free. Quel dommage! In your next book, maybe? Give me a holler when you do!